


The Future Belongs to the Mad

by PoliticalPadmé (magnetgirl)



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Altered Mental States, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Ancient Technology, Ben Solo Lives, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Cults, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Pregnancy, Slavery, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:07:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26722633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/pseuds/PoliticalPadm%C3%A9
Summary: I am the one who runs from both the living and the dead. Hunted by scavengers. Haunted by those I could not protect. So I exist in this Wasteland. A man reduced to a single instinct: survive.What if Jakku was likeMad Max: Fury Road?
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22
Collections: To Rapture the Earth and the Seas: the 2020 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is named after a track on [the film soundtrack](https://open.spotify.com/album/4J5DHt8wmA8oq1OB2q8EML?si=94uc6NKpQS2Yta0oCDosew). I listened to it throughout the writing process.
> 
> Chapters will be released weekly on Friday.

A long time ago a great war was fought in the stars. Giant warships crashed onto an uninhabited planet. Survivors of the crash were unable to fix the engines or coms, and no one ever came looking for them. Eventually they moved out into the world and created a new colony. They called their planet Jakku.

The Empire was the largest settlement on Jakku, carved into rocks that dwarfed the warships and connected by a labyrinth of deep underground caves. They stripped the ships of technology and used it to create generators, vehicles and weapons. The Empire controlled most of the water on Jakku, and, therefore, most of the planet. Their leader was ancient, rumored to be one of the original settlers kept alive by dark magic and darker science. He stole children to raise as soldiers.

Tribes farmed the land in the early years after the crash. But the Empire’s manipulations turned the soil toxic. The plants withered and most of the tribes disbanded or died out. One remained, a matriarchy called the Vuvalini, or Many Mothers. They claimed to be descended from a Queen who commanded one of the silver starships. The Vuvalini handed down stories of their journey through the stars to protect their past, and kept seeds of trees, flowers, and fruits in stasis to protect their future. They built the only known Resistance force in opposition to the Empire. 

Smaller communities were scattered across the desert. Most were located near the abandoned ships and operated as trading posts for scavenged technology and smuggled Imperial equipment. Merchants and mercenaries travelled between these encampments. The Empire employed elite bounty hunters known as Ren to keep order outside their borders.


	2. Survive

Ben shut off the rangefinder on his helmet. The girl was headed back to the hull she called home. He’d been watching her for four days and she hadn’t deviated from the routine. Desert life wasn’t just harsh, it was boring. Every day, she was up before the sunrise. She spent the morning collecting as much tech and scrap as she could fit on her motorbike. She took her spoils to Niima Outpost at midday and spent the afternoon readying them for sale. Then she went back home with whatever food and water she could trade for. She worked and travelled alone but the amounts she brought back would feed more than her and the orange tabby that followed her around. He was near certain he’d found his prey. 

He was hired to retrieve a deserter. FN-2187 was a low level classification but his capture was worth a small fortune. Ben didn’t know why the Empire wanted him back and didn’t care to know. Knowledge brought pain and little else. He’d tracked the deserter to the outpost where more than one vendor was eager to finger the scavenger girl as his companion. Now he planned to follow her to his quarry, subdue the girl, drug the deserter, and claim his prize.

At top speed it took her just over two hours to travel home from the outpost. His speeder made it in half that. He parked it out of sight and set up in the shadows, about ten metres from her door. She appeared as the sun set, carrysack flung over her shoulder, jug of water in one hand and a walking staff in the other. The cat led and hissed as it approached. It stopped beside Ben’s hiding spot and dropped into an attack stance, hair fluffed and ears flat. It looked like a white and orange ball ready to pounce.

“Beebee?” the girl asked but Ben didn’t wait for the cat to give him up. He sprung out of the shadow, kicked at the cat and grabbed the girl’s wrist, twisting it until she dropped the staff. He pointed a blaster under her chin. 

“Stay quiet,” he commanded. The helmet distorted his voice. 

Fear flickered in the scavenger’s eyes but she slammed the water jug into his torso, knocking him back and used the momentum to pull herself out of his grasp. As he scrambled to regain his footing she dove for her staff. Ben looked up to find her crouched in what passed for a fighting stance, if primitive. Her knuckles were white around the staff and the low light of the sun setting behind her created a kind of glow. 

“You can fight,” he murmured, mostly to himself. He tipped the blaster up so it wasn’t pointing directly at her. “I’m here for the traitor. And willing to deal.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“FN-2187,” he provided. “The Empire wants him back.” Her pursed lips was the only response. “Bounty’s big,” Ben continued. “More than you’d make in months of this.” He kicked a piece of the abandoned freight she slept in. The cat hissed. “We can share. You can have a better life.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” she snarled and swung at him. He evaded the strike, she grunted and came again. Persistent little thing. And so angry. At the third swing he twisted and raised his blaster to her head again. 

“Are you trying to kill me?”

“That’s what happens when you’re being hunted by a creature in a mask.”

Slowly Ben raised his free hand and pulled the helmet off, letting it drop to the sand at their feet. He leaned forward to meet her gaze. Her eyes were wide, their ferocity hiding a vulnerability he found familiar, and oddly compelling. He started to ask her name — 

With two swift movements the girl knocked the blaster from his hand and knocked him out cold.


	3. Escape

He woke restrained. The cuffs were heavy on his wrists while the rest of his body felt lighter. They’d taken his weapons, he surmised, and coms, too. Slowly he lifted a lid to peer at his surroundings. Dim lighting indicated she’d brought him inside. As his vision adjusted to the dark, and the blinking red lights on the restraints, he picked out two people across the room. The girl was animated, throwing her whole body into whatever she was saying. Her companion — the deserter — was more still, but just as agitated. They seemed to be having a heated discussion. 

Ben narrowed his eyes and focused on the wall behind the couple, trying to catch what was being said. They sensed something. The target hissed and the girl turned. Their eyes met. He’d watched her for days and written her off as a desert rat. He wouldn't underestimate her again. 

The two closed the space between them and the deserter pulled him to a seated position. “Why are you here?” the scavenger demanded. He didn’t answer. He barely breathed. Her eyes narrowed. “You were following me. Why?” She shook her staff in his face. “Why were you following me?”

“I was following him.” His voice startled her.

Her eyes flickered to the man beside her. A tiny movement but enough to tell him she knew her companion was the target. Had known all along. She was in on it. “Why?” Ben raised his chin, defiant. 

“He’s a Ren.” The target snarled. “A good for nothing bounty hunter and blaster for hire. Empire’s lackey.”

“I’m not with the Empire.”

The deserter barked a laugh. “You work for them,” he argued, and kicked sand into Ben’s face. “Steal for them. Kill for them.”

“No,” he growled. “I am not a part of their war." The target’s eyes were dark but the girl pursed her lips, considering. 

“What’s your name?”

“Does it matter?” Her scrutiny made him uncomfortable. “Look, I’m still willing to deal.”

“You are in no position to be making demands, mate,” the deserter laughed, but his companion held up a hand. 

“Deal for what?”

Ben met her eyes again. “He’s right, I’m a Ren. And there’s plenty more looking for him plus the entire Order of War Boys. You and your cat can’t fight them all.”

“She got you easy enough.” Ben’s eyes flickered to the man’s smug expression. With a sudden jerk he kicked the staff out of the girl’s hands and vaulted to his feet. Despite the restraints his bulk was menacing. 

“She’s not alone!” a voice called out.

The shadows moved and four more people joined them. Another man, the deserter’s same size and build, and three women. One tall and dark, with wide clear eyes and dressed similarly to the two men. One short and fierce, her hands stained with grease. And one pale, anxious, and pregnant. 

Ben shook his head. It didn’t matter how many misfits were hiding in her walls. “The Empire is massive and every War Boy is bred to fight. To die. For the cause.”

“We know,” the taller woman answered. “We were part of it.”

“Then you know they’ll keep coming until they get what they want.” She lowered her eyes. “But they don’t want you.” None of these others were listed in the bounty, though the pregnant one likely had value. “Just him.” Ben turned to the target. “And they’d only want him if he took something.” Everyone was a tool to the Empire. Deserters were killed, but not hunted. His captors shared a look. Their expressions confirmed his theory. “Give it to me and we can part ways. They won’t find you.”

“Because you won’t tell them?” the target scoffed.

“Because they won’t look.”

Silence lingered as they all contemplated the truth of his words. The scavenger took a deep breath.

“We can’t.” Ben started to protest but she held up a hand. “We can’t give it to you. Show him, Finn.”

The target — Finn — huffed with annoyance and something oddly like shame as he turned away from them and stripped his shirt off. The short girl adjusted a knob and light flooded the room. Finn’s wide back was covered in a tattoo, an intricate lattice with some lines raised and red. Ben caught his breath. It wasn’t a tattoo, it was scarring. The design was burned into his skin. 

“It’s the Empire’s hydrosystem.” The girl reached up to trace the lines, careful not to touch Finn’s back. “A series of tunnels deep underground. Reroutes all the water to their holdings.” Water had been rationed since before he was born. He’d heard the rumors, grown up with true believers. If what they were saying was true, the drought was at least partly artificial. Just another way to control them all. 

“When?”

Glaring, Finn pulled his shirt back on. “Six years ago. Once I was big enough.”

“I’m surprised you survived.”

“Not many do.”

Ben averted his eyes.

“We’re going to cross the desert,” the scavenger explained. “Bring the map to the Resistance.”

“The Resistance?” he scoffed.

“To General Leia of the Vuvalini.”

Ben met her eyes and suddenly realized where he’d seen that fire before. “They can’t help you.”

“We’re going to help them.” She nodded to the shorter girl. “Rose worked in the tunnels, knows the system better than anybody.”

“So another target on your backs. And that’s one of the Emperor’s brides right?” He jutted his chin at the pregnant woman and she spat in his face. His eyes flashed. “You’ll all be dead by sunrise.”

“Is that a threat?” Finn asked.

“It’s a fact. The Empire doesn’t care about people but property they’ll fight for.”

Finn flushed red with indignation. “We are not things!”

The scavenger touched his shoulder. “Finn.” With reluctance he backed off. She turned back to Ben. “There’s a vehicle graveyard three clicks south. Big freights. Armored.”

“You’re going to take one.”

She nodded. “Head South.”

“Through the sinking sands?” It was the most direct route to the Vuvalini settlement, but near impossible to cross safely in a big rig.

“They’d be crazy to follow us.” 

Something in her inflection caught him off guard. He felt dizzy and shut his eyes but the memories were in his head. She was still speaking, asking him something… He turned his focus back to her.

“—if we let you go?”

“Rey!” Finn said, alarmed. Ben filed the name away. It was a soft name. It didn’t suit her. “We can’t let him go.”

“I’m asking a question.” She turned back and their eyes met again. “You say you’re not on their side. If we release you, what will you do?”


	4. Into the Canyon

They left at dawn. Rey’s motorbike and two horses were piled high with supplies and ridden by the three former Empire soldiers. Nines rode the bike in the rear, Finn and Jannah, mounted, in the lead. On the ground, Rose tended Kaydel and Rey watched Ben. The restraints were removed but they kept his equipment as a compromise.

“I can help carry,” he offered. He nodded at the two carrysacks over Rey’s shoulders. Everyone but Kaydel was heavily burdened.

“Nah,” Finn answered from above. They knew he could use anything as a weapon.

“Here.” Rey handed him a round wooden cage made for chickens. The cat hissed from inside. “Let’s go.”

Finn nodded and the unusual caravan set out across the sand. Nines travelled in wide circles, setting a perimeter. The first hour or so they travelled in silence interrupted only by the bike’s engine and the occasional growl from the cat. But as the light spilled over their path chatter grew. Ben asked about their destination, how long it would take to select and outfit a ride.

“I have the truck picked out,” Rey explained. “I’ve been working on it for ages but I needed a KC power cell.” She lifted his crossguard weapon. “Thanks for your help.”

He frowned, but the twinkle in her eyes was off putting.

“How much farther?” Kaydel called from behind. The sun was starting to be overbearing.

Rey paused to point. “Just over that ridge. How are you?”

“It hurts.”

Rey nodded. “Out here, everything hurts.” She turned back to her companion. “I could make this journey in my sleep.”

Ben blinked. It was weird to have a casual conversation with, well anyone, really, but certainly with someone who’d had him restrained only a couple hours before. Weird but not bad. “Do you ever go further?”

“No.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“I don’t want to get lost.” The way she said it, he understood she was not talking about losing her direction. She met his eyes and her cheeks flushed. “It’s...home.” He scowled. She glared. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re a wanderer.”

“Yeah, so. Nowhere’s worth staying.”

“ _ Where _ isn’t the point.” She fiddled with the fasteners on his weapon, still glaring. 

“Should be.” The desert extended everywhere. But her corner of it was empty of anything else. “This place is nothing. Less than nothing.” He’d spent under a week here and couldn’t wait to leave. Why would anyone choose to stay? Especially someone with so much promise. “You’re smart, skilled. Could make a good life as a Ren.”

“You think your life is good?”

“I think it’s better than this.”

Her eyes quivered with something she couldn’t express. An untethered life was not weightless. He carried his loneliness like a shroud. 

A scream interrupted the conversation. Both dropped into a fighting stance as their heads whipped around to find the source. Kaydel was clutched tight in the arms of a heavily armored man, easily twice her size. Another man, slender and pale, with rose gold hair and the mark of the Emperor on his exposed shoulder, held knives to her throat and her belly. Rose was on the ground at their feet.

“Everyone stand down!” he shouted. No one moved. The man pulled his hands back and then thrust them toward the girl again, stopping centimeters from her flesh. Kaydel’s scream pierced the silence. “Stand down now!”

Nines cut the engine of the motorbike and slid off, hands up. He could run the men down, but not in time to save Kaydel or her baby. Jannah and Finn shared a dark look, but came to the same conclusion and dismounted. Rey dropped her staff and removed the two carrysacks slung over her back. She tossed them to the side and they dropped at Ben’s feet, his weapon poking out of the bag. He met her eyes, gave a tiny nod and raised his hands in surrender.

“Good.” The Imperial pulled Kaydel into his arms, knife still at her throat, and the giant pulled out two blasters, ready to shoot anyone who approached. “I’ll trade this one for the traitor. Rest of you lot can go.”

Ben narrowed his eyes. He recognized Hux. The redhead was a member of the Imperial Guard, a War Boy and therefore a fanatic. There was no way the man would stick to that deal. But Ben might be able to win freedom for himself and Rey. “They’re all traitors,” he answered. “Which one do you want?” Glares on every side met his question but he ignored them all.

Hux drew his hand back again and pointed the knife in Finn’s direction. “That one.”

Ben shrugged. Finn raised his hands. “All right.” He started walking towards the ginger and his prey. When close, the giant holstered one blaster and grabbed Finn in a choke hold.

“No!” Rey screeched, grabbed her staff and ran down the hill. Ben swore and grabbed for his gear.

“Shoot her _ aaargh _ !” Hux was momentarily distracted by the pain of Rose biting his shin. It was enough for her to yank Kaydel from his grasp and once free the two women rolled away down the hill. Finn kicked his captor’s knee and tried to free himself but the giant’s grip was too strong. Jannah and Nines ran toward the fray and Hux screamed for the guard to “Shoot them, shoot them, shoot them all!”

Ben watched the battle, his helmet calculating his best shot. It picked up an Imperial signal, a call to arms and a dozen responses. They would be here in minutes. Before him the fight continued. Nines and Jannah were working to free Finn, the giant’s attention split between their skirmish and shooting at the women. Kaydel had reached one of the horses but Hux was closing in on Rose.  _ The horses! _ Ben whipped his head around, seeking the motorbike.  _ There! _ He grabbed all the equipment at his feet and ran toward the bike. 

Rey let out a war cry as she reached Finn and slammed her staff into the giant’s arm. With a growl he let go of the deserter and reached for his second blaster. Finn slipped a knife from his sleeve and shoved it into the soldier’s eye. He fell back, shouting and shooting wildly. Rey ducked and hearing a rumble, peered around for the Ren but he was nowhere to be seen. The noise grew louder. She jammed her staff up to help Finn and the others topple the flailing giant, then ran to the top of the dune. Sand swirled in the distance, stretching across the horizon and rumbling like thunder. 

“Sandstorm!” she shouted and ran back to her friends.

Hux stood in her path, his knife at Rose’s throat and fire in his eyes. “It’s a storm coming,” he sneered. “But not sand. The Order of War Boys rides today! You’re all dead now.” He started laughing. “Oh what a day! What a lovely day!” Rey raised her staff but Hux twisted the knife at Rose’s neck and she stopped. Hux’s laughter reached a fever pitch as the rumble advanced.

The long blast of a horn drowned out both sounds as a heavily modified eighteen-wheeler with twin V8 engines pulled up alongside the rebels. Hux didn’t recognize the faded image of a soaring falcon painted on its hull, but Rey did. She shouted for the others to board. Nines and Jannah jumped up into the freighter and turned to help Kaydel. Finn gathered as many supplies scattered in the sand as he could find and threw them into the rig. Hux stopped laughing but continued shouting. “Witness me! Witness!” 

Rose kicked free and stumbled up the hill, Hux on her heels. Rey swung at him, but he dodged and she pitched forward. The rumble of engines was growing. Someone called her name. “Go!” Rey shouted. “I’m coming!” She scrambled up the hill and into the cab and Ben floored it. Hux grabbed Rose’s leg as Nines pulled her into the truck. They landed, tangled together, with a thud. 

“We’ll never let you go,” Hux whispered.

With a guttural scream Rose knocked over a tool box, grabbed a shock prod and zapped him into unconsciousness.


	5. The Chase

The rebels settled into the rig. It was an old model, but had so many modifications it was barely recognizable. The back was split into compartments. Nines and Jannah unloaded the motorbike in one. Rose stood guard over their prisoner in another. And Kaydel wrapped Finn’s shoulder in the main berth. Rey sat beside Ben in the cab, Beebee curled up on her lap.

“How did you know this was the freighter I picked?” He shrugged. “There were others newer, stronger…” She adjusted the passenger mirror as she spoke. No sign of the Order, but it was only a matter of time. “How’d you know?”

Ben glanced over. He remembered another woman in her place, brushing a child’s curls instead of the cat. “Just a feeling,” he grumbled. Rey watched him a long moment, the silence growing heavy between them. She knew there was something he wasn’t saying, but let it go for the moment, and turned to watch the road out the window. 

Hux started awake and shot up, breathing heavy. He blinked at the image before him. Rose was watching him, taser in hand. It made no sense. 

“Why am I alive?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not like you.”

He grunted. “Yeah. You’re weak. The Empire is strong. We don’t leave the enemy alive. The War Boys will kill you all.”

“You’ll die with us.”

Hux straightened his shoulders. “I was born to die in glory.”

Rose was unimpressed. “That’s a stupid reason to die.”

“How would you know?” He recognized her uniform as one of the maintenance crew. She was another traitor, as bad as the first. “You’re a rat who scurries around the pipes fixing things. You work for soldiers like me. You don’t know what glory is.”

Rose crossed her arms. “Glory doesn’t provide water or vehicles or weapons. Without people like me you have nothing.” She knew her worth.

“Without glory I have nothing,” Hux countered. But he parroted what he was taught. Her argument surprised him. 

When night fell Rey gestured for Ben to pull over. He frowned. “We should keep going.”

“It’s too dangerous,” she explained. “Can’t see sinkholes in the dark.” 

Ben tucked the rig behind a dune and the crew hopped out. “Don’t go far,” he cautioned Kaydel as she started to walk off, desperate to stretch her legs.

“She knows,” Rey murmured. She set up a watch schedule with Finn while Nines started a fire to cook. Ben stood awkwardly watching until Jannah pressed him into service stirring the stew. When ready everyone settled into a circle around the fire.

Rose passed a plate to Hux. 

“Not him, Rose!” Finn protested. “He serves the Empire.”

“So did you. So did we all.”

“ _ We _ chose to leave,” Finn said.

“Maybe he didn’t know he had a choice. Maybe he didn’t know there was any other way.”

Finn grumbled but dropped it and Hux reached up to accept the food. His fingers brushed Rose’s and her lips turned up in a small smile. Hux stared, like he’d never seen one before. Ben watched the exchange, introspective.

Finn and Nines patrolled for the first watch, with Jannah standing sentry in the makeshift camp. Hux was cuffed to the truck and flanked by Rose and Beebee, curled up to sleep. His training told him to kick both, to scream until he was hoarse and let the Order pick them off. Instead he watched the sky, the stars he’d never really noticed before. The sounds of the girl’s gentle snoring and the cat’s purr lulled him to sleep.

Rey and Ben took the second watch. He stood, slumped against the trailer and watched her pace.

Rey glanced over. “Sleep okay?”

He waved a hand. “Why’d you choose this truck?”

“It’s sturdy.”

“It’s ancient.”

She smiled. “Lived in.”

He stared, struck, as she traced the faded image of a falcon painted on the door. Suddenly she pulled it open and grabbed his hand. “Come here.” She led him to a corner tucked away in the back of the berth and brushed her fingers over a panel. “See?” Beneath the dust and grime the wall was marked, scratched with lines and numbers. Ages, and one name: Ben. “It was someone’s home. A family.”

Ben caught his breath. “Rey, I...” He raised troubled eyes, struggle clear on his face. 

“Don’t be afraid,” she murmured. “I feel it too.” Slowly she reached up to push hair out of his eyes.

Finn poked his head in with a shout, “Sun’s up.” 

Rey held Ben’s gaze another quiet moment before glancing at Finn with a nod. “Get everyone in the truck.” 

Unsettled, Ben climbed over the bunk and dropped into the cab. Sand puffed at the edge of his vision. He turned slowly to look in the mirror.

“What’s that?” Rey asked as she climbed into the driver’s seat. A distant rumble answered.

“The Order,” he confirmed.

Rey leaned out the window and hit the door. “Go! Now!”

The crew scrambled on board, Rey threw the truck into gear and hit the gas.

“Faster!” Finn said as he threw a blaster to Nines. Ben motioned for Rose to switch places and she dove into the cab, Hux on her heels. Ben peeled back the walls of the sleeping compartment to reveal a hidden window and gestured for Nines to take position. 

Rey frowned. “How did you—” 

“They’re gaining!” Finn’s shout drew Rey’s attention away from Ben, now scrambling to the other side of the cab. 

She shook her head. “I need to see the road, to avoid the sinking sand.” The holes were darker, but she couldn’t mark the difference at high speed.

“They’re catching up!”

“Dying is their purpose,” Hux explained. 

Finn nodded. “He’s right. They won’t slow down for the sand.” 

Ben cleared a second window and motioned for Jannah to take position as he moved on to the ceiling. Rose looked down at the road as Rey swerved to avoid a sinkhole.

“We just need someone to be your eyes on the road.” Rose turned her gaze to the front of the tractor. “If I was on the nose, I could direct you.”

“Too dangerous,” Rey answered.

“I’ll chain myself to the truck.”

“That’s worse!” Rey swerved again. “If you fall —”

“I won’t.” Rey glanced to Rose, met determination in her eyes. “I can do this.”

“They’re coming!” Jannah shouted, taking a shot out the side. Ben had the secret skylight open and reached down to pull Finn and two more blasters up with him. 

“Speed up! I’m ready.”

“What?” 

Rey and Rose peered out the window to see Hux had crawled out on to the front and latched himself in place.

“No,” Rose gasped.

“What are you doing?” Rey cried.

“I’m in position!” He pointed. “I can see the sand. I’ll direct you. Rose will be safe.”

“We can’t trust him!” Finn shouted from above.

“We can!” Rose said with conviction.

Rey glanced at Rose, then Hux, and set her jaw. She flicked a switch, turned a knob and pressed the gas pedal as low as it went. The rig leapt forward and barrelled at top speed across the sand.

Hux shouted directions and Rey executed them seemingly instantaneously. Ben could drive with skill and conviction but for Rey the rig was an extension of her body. They moved as one. 

The Order were outmatched, but they had numbers and kept coming even as their peers fell off. Hux lost his footing. Rose cried out, Rey started to ease back but Hux shouted for her not to. 

Ben dropped his blaster. “Give me a boost,” he told Finn. With his help Ben hauled himself up out the skylight. Finn wrapped his arms around Ben’s leg as he reached for Hux’s slipping chain. The road dipped and the truck bounced, knocking Hux to the edge. Ben grabbed the chain, stopped Hux’s momentum, and he fell forward but not off. 

A large dark patch loomed and Hux shouted for Rey to “Stop!” Rey slammed the brakes, yanked the emergency brake, and activated the guide flaps. The truck shuddered and stopped. The Order vehicles zoomed past and were swallowed by the angry desert.


	6. Moving On

After the battle, the quiet was disconcerting and kept everyone on edge. Rose and Hux rested side by side in the sleeping compartment. They’d replaced the ceiling panel but kept the side flaps open, Nines and Jannah still watching the road. Ben grew more and more agitated the further they got from the battle, the closer they got to the Vuvalini encampment that made up the Resistance. At sunset, they arrived at the outskirts of the settlement and got out to approach on foot. The deserters were eager, excited, even Hux, but Ben hung back. Rey fell into step with him, watched his face grow dark along with the sky.

“How’d you know about those panels?” Rey worked on the Falcon for a couple years, was certain she knew the rig better than anyone. But clearly it still held secrets.

Ben shook his head. Clearly he did, too. She started to press but a bird’s call interrupted. Ben abruptly stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll stay with the truck.”

Rey frowned. “No, we’re here, we —”

“Go,” he insisted and pushed her away. Conflict lit up his eyes but his position was clear and definitive. 

“You’ve come this far.”

“I can’t.” He glanced up at the bird of prey circling, calling again. Beebee growled back and Finn scooped the cat into his arms before she became a snack. “You don’t understand, I can’t…I can’t go back.” He could never go back.

Rey reached for his hand. “We’re in this together. All of us.” She nodded to the rest, all deserters, even Hux. 

“I’m not like you—” 

“That’s far enough.” They looked up, sharply, to find they were surrounded. Rey’s eyes darted around to count at least eight rebels in varied amounts of armor with their blasters drawn. The falcon called a third time and fluttered to settle on the outstretched arm of a tall woman standing beside the man who spoke. Rey raised her hands and the others followed her lead, except Ben who hunched his shoulders and looked away.

“We’re here to see General Leia,” Rey called out to the crowd.

The man shrugged. “Who?”

“The leader of the Resistance,” Nines answered.

“Don’t know what you’ve heard but —”

Rey took a step forward. Rebel hands tightened on the blasters pointed her way. Rey ignored them. “We’re here to see General Leia. We have valuable information, stolen from the Empire.”

“Uh huh.”

“A map that will turn the tide.”

The leader exchanged a look with the birder. “All right. Give it to us and we’ll see.” 

Rey nodded to Finn and he walked forward. At about five feet away, the rebel waved his blaster. “That’s far enough.” Finn stopped and a young woman approached at the leader’s direction. “Give it to her.” The rebel girl held out her hand. Finn pursed his lips. 

“I can’t.”

“Can’t?”

“I am the map,” he explained.

“Stop playing games. If you have something to share —”

“It’s the truth, I can’t —” 

The two men started shouting over each other and set off the rest. A cacophony of voices filled the desert air. The falcon leapt into the sky, screeching, and his caretaker marched into the fray. Her whistle was not unlike the bird call and the crowd fell quiet. “Let them tell their story, Poe.”

He glared. “They’re dripping with Imperial tech!”

“We  _ left _ the Order,” Finn growled.

“Enough!” the tall woman shouted and turned to Rey. “Young lady —”

“I’m Rey,” she provided.

“Rey. I’m Amilyn Holdo and —” she caught movement behind the young woman. Her eyes narrowed on a familiar profile and she gasped. “Ben?” Pained, he met her gaze. 

“Ben?!” Poe pointed his blaster directly at Finn’s head. “Are they with you?”

Finn shook his head. It was difficult to tell which of them looked more murderous. Ben didn’t respond, didn’t move.

“Yes,” Rey answered, her voice clear and her eyes flashing. “He's with us.” Poe’s finger tightened on the trigger.

“No.” Ben’s voice cut through the haze, his tone commanding. Everyone turned to watch him advance, step between Poe and Finn and snatch Poe’s blaster away. He threw the weapon out of reach and met the angry rebel’s eyes. A storm of emotions flashed across Ben’s face. Finally he lowered his gaze. “They’re not with me. They can be trusted.” He stormed off into the dark. 

A long silent moment passed. Finally, Holdo gestured to the convey. “Come on, then.”

The Resistance fighters lowered their weapons and moved aside for the deserters to pass, Poe bringing up the rear. Finn walked past the still scowling commander. Nines and Jannah quickened their pace to flank Finn and provide protection and solidarity, as they were ushered into the settlement. Hux and Rose followed, hand in hand, Beebee trotting beside them. An older woman reached out to help Kaydel and directed her toward a medical tent. Rey held back, her eyes on the sand, on the trail of Ben’s— _ Ben _ ’s?—footprints. 

“Zorri.” Holdo called to an armored woman, and with a nod she walked off after the wayward bounty hunter. “Come,” she said again, and brushed Rey’s shoulder with a kind hand. “Leia will want to see you.” Rey let herself be led into the Resistance settlement.


	7. Redemption

“You the Ben that gave Poe a black eye?”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

“Cool.”

He glanced over. The brass helmet concealed most of her face but her eyes were laughing. He didn’t recognize her but something lingered in the space between them, a kind of unspoken kinship. It was strangely soothing.

“You’re a Ren,” he guessed. She didn’t respond. “No, you were one and now…now you’re here.” His eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?” She wasn’t the type the Vuvalini usually recruited. She could survive without them and didn’t have the air of a true believer. But her response proved otherwise.

“They have hope.”

Ben scowled. “Hope is a mistake.”

“Is it?” Her eyes were laughing again. “Why are _you_ here?”

He didn’t have an answer. 

Now she laughed in full. “Don’t worry, Little Prince of Sand and Stars. I already know.” 

Ben sputtered almost violently. But before he could work out an appropriate retort to the epithet or her alleged understanding, she nodded to something behind him. Someone. Rey stood just outside the ring of light provided by the fire. Shadow and starlight danced across her face. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” Zorri lowered her goggles, flicked a switch for night vision and headed back to the tribe’s base.

Rey and Ben stared at each other through the fire.

“You’re her son.” General Leia of the Vuvalini. Leader of the Resistance. Sovereign of the Many Mothers. Kaydel once called her their only hope.

“What did they tell you?”

She glared. “That you can’t be trusted. You’re a criminal and a liar and you don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

Ben flattened his lips. Her shoulders shook with anger.

“For years… for years! I slept in that truck, in that corner. I would run my fingers over his name, _your_ name.” Fury drove her towards him. “It was the closest I’ve ever felt to home. I would pretend that I was ‘Ben’, that I had a family who loved me and protected me—”

“You don’t know the truth about them.”

“Because you didn’t tell me!” she shouted and sparks flew as if in response. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest heaving. She looked like fire incarnate.

Silence grew. Ben lowered his eyes, slowly settled in the sand and gestured for her to join. After a long hesitation she dropped beside him.

“My mother…” he stumbled over the word. “The Vuvalini believe the ships that crashed into the world generations ago were populated by travellers, not warriors like the Empire claims. I was raised on stories of these travellers, the Skywalkers, the guardians of peace.” His voice was low, but animated with the tales of his youth. “They have glowing swords and magic powers. Can move things with their mind and heal with just a thought. The Many Mothers claim to be direct descendants of the first Skywalker, a woman who lived alone in a desert and gave birth to a dragon. His silver wings carried the family across the stars.” His eyes drifted up to the sky. “I loved those stories. All I wanted was to be a Skywalker.”

Rey opened a hand toward him, but Ben’s expression hardened.

“But then I was kidnapped by the Empire.”

“Like Finn.”

“No.” He shot her a dark look. “The Order of War Boys... They take very young children and raise them to fight and die for the cause. I was older, nine, and they didn’t train me.” He swallowed, remembering. “They told me the truth. The history I grew up with was a lie. The Skywalkers were a myth made up to give the Resistance false hope. So they would fight and die for the cause. They’re no better than the Empire.”

“That’s not true.” She reached out to take his hand but he slapped her away and stood, agitated.

“They rescued me but not the others.” He had nightmares for years, still heard the babies crying when he closed his eyes. He could no longer feel anything but rage. “My legacy isn’t the stars. It’s war.” He started to pace, kicking both sand and fire. “My mother and her brother are the children of the Emperor’s second in command. The monster I was raised to fear and hate was my grandfather.” It felt like a calling. As soon as he was old enough he started work as a Ren and quickly became one of the Emperor’s favorites. “That truck you love? Your ‘home’,” he sneered. She shook her head, silently warding away the words. “My father smuggled weapons and drugs in it. For profit. Not some greater good. The greater good doesn’t exist.”

“It does.” She leapt up, grasped his arm and pulled herself close. “It’s here. They’re going to attack the Citadel. Take back the water. They’re going to end this war.”

“They’re going to die!” he roared. She flinched, tears on her cheeks. He lifted a hand, reached but didn’t touch. “Rey, please. Come with me. Leave all this behind.”

Her eyes fluttered from his eyes to his lips and back. There was less than a hand’s length between them. But also a chasm. “We can’t let the Empire win.”

Ben dropped his hand and took a step back. His eyes were a storm but he set his jaw and squared his shoulders. “My father would want you to have the truck.” She loved the Falcon almost as much as he had. “I’m taking your bike in trade.” He turned and started walking away. 

Rey watched in silence until he was swallowed by darkness, gasped and shouted after him. “Ben!”

She saw the figure turn, could just make out his jawline. The wind carried his words to her. “I hate the Empire but at least they provide for their own. The Resistance is outmatched and impoverished and held together with dreams and lies. I won’t watch you die for a fairy tale.” 

He disappeared into the night.


	8. The Return to Nowhere

Ben stormed into the desert in the low light of dawn. Sand splayed behind him, creating a path of detrition. He felt eyes watching him. Rey’s. Zorri’s. His mother’s. And her mother’s. Generations of eyes. He grit his teeth, shook his head, and switched gears. 

_Be with me._

He’d heard voices since his time with the Empire. Maybe before. It all mixed together in his mind. Whispers of power and destiny. His legacy of destruction, defeat. Ben’s childhood was spent wandering the desert in his father’s truck. Picking up runaways, abandoned children, and soldiers who’d lost a limb or their mind. Most often both. The great majority died within months, the survivors were adopted into the Vuvalini and Leia’s war. 

Flashes of memory filled his vision as the motorbike picked up speed. A knife held at his throat. A freighter exploded. Wide brown eyes filled with tears. His father’s hand slipped and he fell backwards into a chasm in the Citadel. 

Faster, faster, he urged the vehicle, desperate to escape the echoes. But they surrounded him. He heard the Emperor laughing at his childish defiance and his mother’s voice shouting his name. He felt the heat of a shelter burning and the weight of his father’s hand on his cheek. He saw a girl throw herself under a car rather than live in the Empire’s care and he saw Rey’s eyes, always searching, never still. 

A figure appeared on the road. A woman. She blended into the background, a manifestation of the desert itself. Ben swerved away but she remained in his path. The wheels spun in the sand and he lost control, rolled into a dune and hit the ground. His helmet sparked twice and went dark. He pulled it off, blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sun. 

Ben dragged himself and the bike up but the engine sputtered and stalled. Spitting sand, he kicked it over and started walking. But his chest felt tight and his mouth parched. He didn’t know how long he’d been in the desert. The winds blew away his path, he’d gotten turned around and lost sight of any landmarks. The sand stretched on for miles, the sunlight relentless. He felt weak, desperate for water, for relief. He tripped over his feet, stumbled to the ground. A thousand tiny rocks cut into his skin and he screamed to the sky. 

“Where are you going?” 

He laughed, a harsh bark. “Nowhere.”

“That’s not a destination.”

Ben glanced over. There was something familiar about the woman, but he couldn’t place her. Couldn’t make out any identifying features. Her skin was sun touched and her hair was golden brown. She wore canvas and hide, faded and thin. She looked like every woman who lived in the wasteland outside the Empire’s gates. Half sand and half ghost.

“I’m not trying to get anywhere.” He scooped up a handful of sand, watched it fall through his fingers. “Just away.”

“Away from what?”

“Just away!” he growled and pitched the sand at her face. She didn’t flinch, didn’t move, confirming his suspicion she wasn’t really there. He’d finally lost what was left of his mind. He dropped back, licked his cracked lips. The spectre unhooked a canteen from her belt and held it out. Ben frowned. Brushed the metal with a finger. It was solid. Real. Or maybe he was dreaming. Maybe he was already dead. The thought was almost peaceful. He grabbed the bottle, popped the top and downed the contents.

“Water should be free.”

He swallowed a sob. “Who are you?”

“Just a memory.”

Ben shook his head. “I don’t know you.”

“I know you.” Her dark eyes were wide with compassion. Tenderness.

 _A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the First Mother lived in a desert just like this._ A bedtime story, one of his mother’s favorites. He remembered laying back in the sand, gazing up at the sky full of stars. A tear slipped down his cheek. It made him furious.

“Get out of my head!” Memories flooded his senses. The roar of the Emperor’s War Boys stomping, chanting in an ancient language he didn’t understand. The smell of flesh burning. The taste of almond. The rumble of the truck against his legs. “Leave me alone…” He heard his mother singing. The Emperor laughing. He was nine, he was twenty, he was twenty-four. 

His father stood before him, older than he remembered, and more weary. _I’ve come to take you home, son_ , the memory told him. _Your son is dead_ , he heard himself say. Han shook his head and reached out to cup his cheek. Ben shoved him away, with all his strength and all his rage. 

“Leave me alone!” In the past his father’s hand slipped and he fell backwards into a chasm in the Citadel. In the present hot tears blurred his vision.

“Never.”

Recognizing the voice, Ben’s head shot up. The desert stranger was gone, replaced by the image of his father. He gulped for breath. “You’re just a memory.”

“Your memory.”

Ben blinked. Gasped. He was a small boy. Strong arms lifted him up and turned around and around. He laughed as the sky spun. It was like flying.

_I’ve come to take you home, son._

The sand settled. The haze lifted and he recognized the edge of a hull, like the one Rey lived in. The remains of an ancient civilization. Warmongers or peacekeepers, travellers or refugees...whatever their purpose, they had walked the stars. He’d spent days here as a child. His mother looked for history, his father for something to sell. He’d run and jumped and dug and dreamed. Something shimmered out the side of his eye. A discoloration in the sand. He crawled closer, brushed the sand aside to reveal the edge of a leather sheath. He dipped his hands into the sand and wrenched the whole package out. Frowning, he untied the weather worn laces and pulled back the sleeve. Two metal shafts glinted in the sun.

_We can’t let the Empire win._

Ben’s head shot up. “Rey...” He scrambled to his feet, scooping the uncovered treasure into his arms, and started to run.

It was twilight when the Falcon arrived at the outskirts of the Empire. Rey slowed the truck and the caravan of smaller vehicles carrying the Vuvalini and their allies cut their engines as they drew close to the freighter. The leaders poured over a map copied from Finn’s back by Maz, the oldest member of the Vuvalini. They were looking for the least protected port, but argued over which it might be. Rey ignored the discussion, watched the sky as stars started to appear in the low light. Rose and Hux were tucked into the berth behind the cab, stealing a moment before the battle. 

Rose tilted her chin up to meet Hux’s eyes, her cheek settled against his chest. “Your heart is beating so fast.”

“I’m afraid.” Fear was unfamiliar to the Order. He didn’t know how to process it.

“When we win, we’ll all be free. You’ll be free.”

She leaned up to brush his lips, but her words echoed in his memory. Free…

Hux sat up, a wild look in his eyes.

“Rose-!”

“What’s wr-”

“It’s a trap.”

“What do you…?” She shook her head, bewildered, but scared.

“I’m the trap, Rose.” He held out his arm, wrist up, a dull light blinking beneath the skin. “I’m the trap!”


	9. Immortan

Rose banged on the wall of the sleeper cabin. “It’s a trap! It’s a trap! They’re coming!”

Rey and Leia looked at each other and then to the road. Worry crept across their faces at the sight of the Order bearing down on them from all sides. They weren’t just coming. “They’re here.”

“Drive,” Leia ordered as Nines, Finn and Jannah climbed into the berth, opened the three hatches and started firing.

Rey focused on the road before her and urged the truck to increase speed. She felt something tingle at the back of her neck. A presence. She couldn’t explain but it filled her with confidence. Her eyes scanned the horizon, where the sky met the sand, and she spied an opening. The truck lurched as she turned and sped toward it.

“What are you doing?!”

“The water system’s underground. He will be, too.” Leia pursed her lips but nodded and signaled for Poe and the others to follow them. She understood the value of instinct. 

The path down was too narrow for the Falcon. Rey parked the truck to block the entrance and the Resistance spread out to protect it. Rose pointed to an outpost where she could hack into the system and scrambled into Holdo’s jeep with Hux. They drove off as a blaring war song indicated the Order’s large transports were minutes away.

“Here,” Poe offered his bike to Rey and ran off to join Finn and Zorri. Rey climbed on and Leia right behind her.

“General?”

“This is my fight,” she told Rey. Her eyes were as haunted as her son’s. Rey nodded and sped down the hill. The decline was steep but quick for the enhanced motorbike. They dismounted toward the end and walked the last few feet. 

The path opened into a vast cavern covered in tech, a monument to the ancients who’d crashed centuries before. A blue haze drifted throughout, across intricate pipes and a water purifier. In one corner stood a kind of science lab full of equipment and vats with body parts. Cages hung from the ceiling but they were blessedly empty. A spiky rock formation dominated the center of the space. The Emperor loomed over it, his decrepit body connected to more pipes. Periodically they sparked with blue lighting that flooded the space with light and then disappeared up into the dark. 

“Ahhhh.” His voice echoed, filling the space. “Welcome.” He smiled. “Welcome back.”

Outside, the Resistance were outnumbered more than twenty to one, but they had the advantage of frequent night maneuvers and a far stronger desire to live. Jannah, Nines, and a handful of Vuvalini drove around the largest transports to plant explosives. Poe weaved around the Order vehicles while Zorri and Finn manned the weapons. The War Boys’ music flooded the air. A single bike raced through the battle, ignoring both sides. Ben veered around the Falcon. He recognized some faces using the truck as a shield for their battery but zoomed past.

Underground, Rey heard the faintest sound of an engine and set her jaw. “You’re defeated, old man.”

The Emperor laughed. “I’ve heard that before.” He turned dull eyes to the Vuvalini general. “From your father for one. And your brother. And your son. But they all fell to me.”

Leia shrugged. “I’m still standing.”

The Emperor raised his right hand and with it the metal arm he was attached to. An electric current shot out of the device, hitting the general square in the chest and knocking her to the ground.

“Leia!” Rey screamed as she ran to her side. The older woman trembled, but grabbed Rey’s arm and used her to pull herself back up. She raised her chin, met the Emperor’s empty eyes, her own filled with fury, and spit on the sand at his feet.

“You...are...defeated...old man.” Her voice was low, her breath rattled, but the words were clear.

The Emperor snarled and turned his weapon on Rey.

“No!” The word echoed across the cavern in two voices, Leia’s and her son’s. Ben ran at the trio firing at the Emperor in a fury.

Above the battle roared. A War Pup screamed and fell away, clutching his arm. Finn huffed, satisfied the hit wasn’t fatal. “Try not to kill them!” he shouted to the others.

Poe looked at him in disbelief. “They’re trying to kill us!”

“They were taught! Brainwashed.” Finn looked haunted. He’d been one of them. His blood still burned hearing the drums. “We have to be better.” 

Zorri’s eyes narrowed on the travelling communications array that was blasting the war chant. “I have an idea.”

Reaching the outpost, Rose jumped out of the truck and attacked the keyboard, inputting her program to reroute the system. But she paled at the result. “No. No, no….” she muttered as her fingers flew across the toggles and screens.

“What’s wrong?”

“The Emperor must have adjusted it after the map was stolen.” She pointed to the board, one path lit up in bright blue. “All the water is routing underground, even the Citadel doesn’t have access.”

“What can we do?”

Rose chewed her lip. “It’s makeshift…” He’d only had a few days to make the changes. She tapped the machine. “If we can cut off the power, the whole system should shut down.”

“What’s the power source?”

“I’m not sure.” She shook her head, tears threatened but she refused to give in. “It’ll be separate but not far. Something like an exposed engine with an indicator light.” They jumped up to scan the area. 

Zorri leapt onto the comm truck, Finn and Poe at her heels. With the element of surprise on their side, they swiftly subdued the guards and Poe wrestled with the driver. It would have been easier to shoot him in the head but Finn’s words echoed, like a conscience. It was something Leia would say. Something Poe strived to be. He knocked the man cold and took over the wheel.

Up top Finn took out the last guard and Zorri punched the squirrely kid pumping the music. “Time for a station change,” she murmured and handed Finn the headset. She got into position behind him, attached her own audio input so his words would travel to both the Order and the Resistance.

“We are not your enemy,” Finn started. “The Emperor lied. He lied about the war. He lied about the water. He’s keeping it all for himself.”

Holdo pointed. “There!” 

Hux glanced over. A collection of pipes and rods poked out of the sand some fifty yards away. A red light blinked, just as Rose described. He ran toward the Falcon.

“He stole your water. He stole your family. He stole your future.  _ Our _ futures.” Finn’s voice rang through the battle, even below in the Emperor’s bunker. The old man glared at the speakers and started shooting them, giving Ben a chance to pull Leia and Rey out of his immediate line of fire.

“We are not his property! We are not weapons! We are not things!” Finn’s speech continued and the Emperor roared again.

“General.” Leia looked into her son’s face and sighed. “Mom…”

“I know,” she whispered.

He pulled her to her feet and turned her toward the path up. “They need you up there,” he urged. “They’re going to win and they need you to lead. To put this world back together.” He nodded for both Leia and Rey to leave. “I’ll take care of him.” He glanced at the two weapons attached to his belt, the same ancient tech that made the Emperor’s machine. “Destroy it all.”

Rey understood in a flash. “You’ll die.”

Ben met her eyes. “I was born to die. You taught me how to live.”

Their lips crashed together, saliva and tears mingling as the room sparked around them.

Hux scrambled inside the Falcon and turned the gears. The engine roared, Rose and Holdo jumped in, and the Vuvalini scattered as he sped toward the power source.

“We used up the explosives!” Rose shouted from behind. 

“We can ram it,” Holdo answered. Rose clamored over into the cab and started to rig it to drive autonomously.

“You’ll have to build up more speed,” she shouted up. Hux stepped on the pedal and started a wide circle toward his destination. 

The Emperor had shot out all but one comm unit but Leia attached her personal comm to Poe’s motorbike and Finn’s voice came roaring back. “We have a choice! Choose to fight by my side and I will pledge my every breath to fight for you.”

Leia straddled Rey’s bike and Ben nodded for Rey to join her but she shook her head.

“I’m staying.”

“Rey —”

“I won’t leave you.”

The ceiling shook with another shot. Rocks tumbled around them. Rey grabbed his hand. Finn’s voice continued to blare. “Together we are powerful, together we cannot be defeated.”

Rey smiled. “What he said.” 

Ben’s face lit up with resigned amusement. He nodded and turned to Leia. She pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his forehead. “You found it. I knew you would.”

He frowned as she drew back. “The weapons?”

“Hope.” Leia winked and drove away.

“I am not your enemy! I am your brother! I am your brother!” Finn’s voice broke when Poe laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Look,” he murmured. Finn raised his eyes and found the battle paused. The War Boys stared up at him. “You did it.” Finn dropped to the floor of the stage, spent, tears streaking down his cheeks. The noise of an engine cut through the silence and Leia burst into sight. “General?” Poe called. 

“Move everyone out,” she ordered. It was the Emperor’s last stand and she knew he was at his most dangerous backed into a corner. Poe called for the crowd to pull back, Order and Resistance moved as one away from the entrance. But the rods on both the outpost and the powersource lit up with sparking blue lightning that reached between them and shocked everyone they passed. Half the group fell to the sand in pain, the rest ran in a panic.

“Each time you cut me down I return stronger!” the Emperor screeched as he sent another assault up through the ground. Ben and Rey ducked behind Poe’s bike, listening in dismay to the shouts of terror now pouring through the comm instead of Finn’s speech. Ben flicked a button on the ancient weapon he found in the sand and a blue glow lit up their faces. He handed Rey the smaller sabre and a second shaft of light filled the space. They met each other’s gaze, squared their shoulders and leapt up to address the Emperor. The light sabres deflected his blasts and sent them spinning back towards him and the long arm of the system he was attached to.

The Emperor scowled. “You don’t even know what you hold! You cannot use those weapons against me! I am the keeper of the ancient Empire! I alone can wield its power!”

Rey and Ben continued to advance. As they drew closer, the sabres started to absorb the sparking blue lightning.

“You’re wrong, old man.” Rey spoke with a confident calm in stark contrast to the maniacal leader. She was born underground. Never saw the sun the first five years of her life. They were taught the war chant before they could run. It told of glory and power, fury and passion. If she was strong enough she’d become a War Pup. If she was pretty enough she’d become a Bride. The Emperor’s voice was the first she ever heard. He was the only family she ever had. Until now. “The Skywalkers weren’t warriors. You twisted the truth. You  _ always _ twisted the truth.”

She’d rescued a kitten from a group of older boys who trapped it in a net. Orange and white, her big round head larger than the rest of her body at the time. The boys had knives but Rey had speed. The kitten guided her to tunnels she’d never seen. She followed them all the way to the surface. To freedom. 

“I am the truth!” the Emperor wailed. “I am the Empire! Witness! Witness!” The room shook with his wrath.

“Oww!” Rose drew back her hand, wincing in pain. “It’s no use. I can’t get enough weight on the pedal.” They needed the truck to be travelling at top speeds to take out the Emperor’s power source.

“We have to do something.” Holdo watched the sky with wild eyes. Whatever was going on below them, the barrage of blue lightning seemed to be gaining momentum. “It’s tearing the ground apart.”

Rose shook her head. Tears swelled, she couldn’t speak. Hux veered away from a crack that sprayed sparks as they passed.

“Pull over,” Holdo ordered. “I’ll do it.” 

Hux didn’t stop, didn’t slow.

“Do you even know how to drive this rig?” Rose asked.

“It doesn’t take great skill to crash!”

Hux executed another sharp turn. Rose was trying to adjust the pedals again. Holdo was trying to pull her back. She yelled for him to stop. 

“...Now! We don’t have time to argue!” The Vuvalini grabbed for the wheel. “Pull over, boy! I gave you an order!”

“I don’t have to listen!” he shouted. “I have a choice!” 

Holdo drew back as if burned. “Yes,” she agreed in a shaken whisper.

“We can jump,” Rose offered, her eyes on the power source now engulfed in lightning. “It’s a chance.” Hux and Holdo nodded. He turned one final time and accelerated toward the light.

The Emperor’s arm sparked as Rey and Ben stepped within striking distance.

“Foolish children,” he taunted. “You cannot destroy me without destroying everything.” The room glowed, pulsed in time with his breath. “Give up and I will teach you how to use those weapons.”

“I will never listen to you again,” Ben growled.

The Emperor smiled. “Then die.” He raised both arms and lightning shot up through the ceiling, lighting the sand on fire. The Falcon slipped at the sudden rumble. Holdo swallowed.

“Close enough,” she murmured and opened the passenger door. “Now.” She gestured for Rose to jump.

“You’re free,” Rose whispered to Hux. 

Rose leapt out the door and rolled away from the truck. She spied Poe and another jeep coming closer, slowing to help her, but her eyes were on the Falcon. Holdo was preparing to follow her. Hux was pushing at his door, but it wouldn’t open. The ground shook again. Holdo screamed as her feet slipped. Hux slammed his shoulder into the door to no avail. “Go,” he told the Vuvalini, shifting away from the driver’s seat. “I’ll follow.” She nodded and jumped away. Hux slid to the door but the ground shook a third time and lightning lit up the road. He felt the truck start to slip off the path, veer away from the power source.

Rey and Ben screamed as the lightning knocked them to their knees. The Emperor’s laughter bounced off the walls. He was still taunting, still shouting nonsense but the sound of the electric storm and the quaking earth was too loud to make any of it out. Ben reached for Rey’s hand, threaded his fingers through hers, and met her eyes. She jutted her chin. He nodded. Moving as one they crossed the two sabres as the Emperor pulled back for another assault. A blinding light surrounded them.

Hux glanced back to glimpse Rose one last time. Their eyes met across the sand and stars. “Witness me,” he whispered, then scrambled back into the driver’s seat and steered the truck into the tower. Both exploded and burst into flames. The lightning sparked and then went dark.

The impact knocked the Emperor over as he loosed lightning at the two lovers. The entire cavern was falling. “What? What?” he shouted as the towers crashed, vats spilled and pipes burst. Water poured in from all sides, filling the basin, surrounding the Emperor. His arm still sparked and the lightning met the water. The Emperor screamed as he was electrocuted. His body turned black and he dropped lifeless into the waves. 

Ben and Rey clutched at each other in the tiny dome created by their crossed sabres. They weren’t weapons; they were shields. Ben pointed to the incline and they ran together, the ray bubble moving with them. They climbed up the opening, lowered the sabres and ran to Rey’s bike. The couple clamored on and drove away, the water fast on their heels.

On the surface, the land was cracked and burned, strewn with bodies, living and dead. Survivors limped around the edges, clinging to each other and the possibility of hope. Leia heard the roar of an engine and raised her rifle.

Ben sped up and out into the starlight, Rey seated behind him, a sabre in each hand. As they dismounted and were pulled into the embrace of the crowd, water spilled out of the cave and pooled at their feet. 

It was close to dawn before they were done debriefing Leia and her council. Next they would journey to the Citadel, dismantle the Empire, reroute the systems and build something new. Something true. 

Rey wandered away, overwhelmed by the promise of sweeping change. The first rays of morning coalesced with the fires that still burned around the destroyed Falcon. Rey brushed a finger across a panel. Nothing worth scavenging survived.

“I’m sorry…” She turned to find Ben watching her, eyes wide with compassion and concern. He knew the truck represented home to her, even more than it had to him or his mother. But Rey smiled.

“You still don’t understand.”

Ben frowned. Rey stepped closer, touched her hand to his cheek. “Home isn’t a place.” She drew him down into a deep kiss as the light of dawn filled the sky. 


	10. Epilogue

“Allana!”

The little girl turned and ran back to the truck, her brown curls bouncing. She was barefoot and sand covered her hands and knees. The sun slipped past the horizon and the first stars appeared high in the sky.

“Wash,” Rey told her daughter and Allana ran off to obey. They had water for washing, cooking, planting, and drinking. Their rig was full of jugs for distribution to settlements that remained outside the former Empire’s borders, or hadn’t yet been connected to the underground water system. Trade continued for tech, goods, and food, but Leia decreed water free for all.

The Citadel was renamed the City. There, Leia led a council of elders and leaders of the scattered tribes, the bones of a representative government. They instituted a rapid recovery program for the land and within a year the first plantings were thriving. 

The Order of the War Boys was disbanded. Finn, Nines, and Jannah, along with Poe and Rose, worked tirelessly to help the former members find new purpose both within and without the borders of the City. They became farmers, hunters, teachers, nursemaids, and medics. A handful were reunited with their families, most formed a new brotherhood with each other. Hux’s sacrifice was recorded in history and witnessed by generations.

Amilyn returned to the Vuvalini encampment and founded a sanctuary for women. The late Emperor’s brides, including Kaydel, were among her first acolytes. They lived in harmony with the land and sky, preserving their history, and protecting their future.

Much of Jakku remained a harsh wasteland. There were skirmishes with former Imperials and other groups skeptical of Leia’s and her council’s rule of law. Border towns were slow to trust and slower to agree to the construction of new roads and waterways. Ben and Rey took their new truck, the Phoenix, out to distribute water and survey the crowds. Slowly they built confidence in the new republic.

Allana was born two and a half years after the death of the Emperor. She grew up on the road with her parents, her growth recorded on the wall of the rig.

“Daddy!” The child crashed into his legs, a tiny tornado of giggles and limbs. Ben placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. 

“Careful, princess.” Allana made a face. Ben gathered her up into his arms.

“Is it time?” Ben nodded and carried her to the fire, and her mother.

“How many will we see?”

“I don’t know,” Ben said as he carefully dropped to the sand beside Rey. Allana settled into his lap and turned her attention to the sky. It was late summer, what Maz called the season of dying stars.

“Why do the stars fall?” Allana asked, eyes still upturned to the sky.

“I don’t know,” Ben said again.

“They’re messengers,” Rey said. Ben glanced over. “I saw one the night I escaped with BeeBee. And the night before I met Finn. And the night I realized I was pregnant.” 

Ben smiled.

“But what are they saying?” Allana asked. Rey pressed her hand to Allana’s cheek.

“That they are with us,” Rey said. “Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusions are some of my favorite AUs and I loved plotting and writing this fic. I got to play with two universes and include things I missed in canon (Finn's rebellion, Leia's role, Ben survived and stayed with Rey). I hope my affection for both stories came across and was enjoyed. Thank you for reading!


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